


The Life of an Admiral

by kayethespade



Series: The Adventures of Alicia Shepard [18]
Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Gen, Innuendo
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-24
Updated: 2017-01-02
Packaged: 2018-09-11 18:06:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,955
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9001081
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kayethespade/pseuds/kayethespade
Summary: Commander Shepard is a paragon...mostly. Sometimes.





	1. She needs to sleep

Shepard came into the crew area of the Normandy with a worn out slouch in her shoulders. Only three people ever woke up this early. Garrus, Thane, and herself. Both of them had already gotten their coffee equivalents. 

“Did the council call you up for another late-night chat?” Garrus asked. Shepard sat down and leaned forward onto the table. “I’ll take that as a yes.” 

“I know that I signed up for this crap, but does it have to happen at two in the morning?” she grumbled. 

Thane went to work making her a cup of tea. Surprisingly, she loved tea so light it was nearly white. “What did the council interrupt your sleep schedule for this time?” 

“Apparently, there was a land dispute between a rather prominent human and turian colony, and they want me to take care of it the next time I’m on the Citadel. And then they also wanted to critique my leadership style over that mission on Rannoch that I coordinated three months ago. Y’know, while they had me on the line. Sparatus asked about how my relationship was going. I reprimanded him for disorderly conduct. That was overruled, those bastards. Got chewed out for the confrontation. They finally let me go, and I decided that I’m probably not going to get back to sleep,” Shepard explained. 

“Honey, you need to go back to sleep,” Garrus pleaded. 

She gently took the cup from Thane and thanked him. “I still need to lead this ship, regardless of how little sleep I’ve had.” 

“You’ve hardly slept in the past week. Just a few hours. We’ll let you know if something is even slightly off normal running,” he said. 

“No. I know that you guys want me to be happy and healthy and all that jazz, but if I sleep right now, what kind of example does that set for the junior and senior crew members?” Shepard asked. 

“Yes, but you are an admiral. They will understand when you need to rest,” Thane suggested. 

“You two are sweet, but I’m not even that tired-“ 

“You zoned out on Tali for two straight minutes yesterday while she was talking about some upgrades for the engine,” Garrus interrupted. She chuckled a little. 

“Alright, that’s a fair assessment. I can sleep when I’m dead or on shore leave, okay? Whichever comes first,” she grumbled. 

“Siha, why do you treat your life as though it’s so casually given?” Thane asked. 

“Look, it’s just leftover depression and PTSD. Some days are good. Some days aren’t,” Shepard snapped. 

“What you deal with is never “just depression”, Alicia. I think that you need to sleep. That crew will understand, and we’re not taking no for an answer,” Garrus said. 

“Ugh. Fine. Two hours. Then I get up and get shit done,” Shepard resigned. She grabbed her tea and went back to bed. “You two better make sure everything stays even.” 

“We will, Shepard. Now go back to sleep,” Thane ordered. 

As soon as she left, Garrus and Thane turned to each other. 

“We’re letting her sleep for the whole day?” Garrus asked. 

“Yes. She needs to,” he confirmed. 

“The crew can survive one day without Shepard. What’s the worst that could happen?” 

~~~~~~~

Everything went well enough for the first ten hours. The crew established that nobody was to disturb Shepard unless the ship was on fire or somebody was bleeding. Or both. However, both of these happened when Vega and friends decided to have a no-holds-barred sparring match. Things did not end well. 

The lower deck was now on fire. 

Shepard had frantically awoken and realized that she’d slept for much longer than anticipated. She saw the fire on the monitors and just…sighed for a moment. 

“EDI, are the vital systems down there water proof?” Shepard asked. 

“Yes, they are. How would you like me to handle the fire?” 

“Turn on the sprinklers,” she answered with a cat-like grin. 

“As you wish, admiral,” EDI said. There was a note of amusement in her voice. 

Showers rained over the crew. It set out the fire, but now the entire crew was sopping wet. 

“Shepard’s up!” Vega yelled. She grinned and put on her casual clothes to head down there once the sprinklers were finished. 

Garrus was grumbling as he came back up. His collar was filled with water and it was splashing everywhere. “I hope you had your fun, Shepard.” 

“I appreciate you letting me sleep, but you directly disobeyed an admiral’s orders. I believe that punishment was sufficient,” Shepard teased. 

“I’ll get you for this,” he growled. 

“Is that a threat or a promise, Vakarian?” she whispered as she went to the kitchen and grabbed him a towel. 

“Damn, Shepard. Why do you have to be so good at that?” 

“Comes with the job, I guess,” Shepard sighed. “Now go clean yourself up.” 

“Yes, ma’am,” Garrus said.


	2. Eye of a Hurricane

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shepard doesn't like surprises. Beware of angst in the following.

"Shepard, there's a call for you from Admiral Hackett," EDI reported. 

Shepard groaned and stood up, straightening her uniform. "Patch it through, please." 

"Ma'am, I need you to come back to Earth at your convenience," he ordered. She gestured for him to explain. "The turian government has declared war on the Alliance." 

A block formed in her throat, as though to keep her from speaking. "For what reasons? On what grounds?" 

"A human terrorist group has been attacking turian colonies, and they didn't believe that we were taking appropriate action," Hackett said. 

"That's it? Why aren't we uniting with them to fight the terrorists?" Shepard asked. 

He paused. "There's...evidence that a primarily turian company has been developing AI technology to be used for war." 

"Does the turian government have anything to do with it?" she asked, pacing the room. 

"Some documents and voice recordings that I've sent to you suggest so," he said. 

Why was it so hard to breathe? “Would you like me to do anything in particular for my turian crewmate, Garrus Vakarian?” 

“Shepard, I realize that he is your husband, but he is also next in line as the primarch. For your own safety, it would be wise to drop him and any who sympathize with him off at the Citadel,” Hackett suggested with a heavy heart. 

“That would include nearly all of my crew, Alliance personnel, and myself, Admiral,” she snapped. “I’m sorry. It’s just…hard to accept.” 

“I understand, Shepard. In that case, if he is willing to support our cause, we would be happy to have him. Hackett out,” he said. 

Shepard disconnected and turned to look at herself in the mirror. She’d cried while on the phone with Hackett. She tried to keep her voice even as she called Garrus to come up and meet with her. 

When he arrived, Shepard threw her arms around him. Garrus chirped in surprise before accepting the unexpected affection. It was only when she began to sob that he knew something was wrong. 

“Shepard, what happened?” he asked. 

“You haven’t heard yet?” she replied. “The…the turian government declared war on the Alliance. Human terrorist groups have been attacking turian colonies, and apparently, the Alliance’s reaction wasn’t quick enough or harsh enough. And the turian government is suspected of funding the development of AI technology in those colonies. And I just now found all of this out, and I’m being called back to Earth to help sort all this out. And I don’t know if you even want to come, given that you’re next in line as primarch, and who knows what will happen to him.” 

Garrus held her closer to him. “I’ll stay with you until the very end, Shepard.” 

“But…what about the primarch?” Shepard asked. 

“I won’t leave you to possibly die again, Alicia. You’ve already died and come back to life too many times for my liking,” he said. 

“Thank you. I don’t know if I could handle doing this without you,” she whispered. 

“You and Thane would do the same for me. I love you,” Garrus replied. 

Shepard stepped back slightly. “What am I going to do now?” 

“What do you mean?” He gently took a seat on her couch. 

“I’m going to have to tell the crew that we’re at war with the turians. Give them an out if I can. We’re going to stop at the Citadel. I’m going to confront the Council. How can they be okay with possible AI technology? I mean, maybe they already know, but I still want to confront them,” she ranted. 

“Are you actually going to tell them off like you always plan to?” Garrus teased. 

“Now you’re just being rude,” Shepard grumbled. She crossed her arms over her chest. 

“Do you want me to go with you?” he asked. 

“…Yes,” she sighed. Garrus stood up and followed her to the bridge. 

Shepard approached the microphone and took a deep breath. 

“In case any of you are not aware, the Turian Republic and the Alliance are at war. If any of you who are not Alliance personnel would like to leave, our next stop is the Citadel. You are free to go as you please. I will not blame you for it. I love you all, and I hope to see those of you who choose to leave under better circumstances someday,” she announced. Garrus gently placed a hand on her shoulder. 

“You did well, Shepard,” he assured. Garrus still wasn’t perfect at positive affirmation, but he tried his best. 

~~~~~~~

The meeting with the Council went about as well as one would expect. 

“We are well aware that the turian government has been developing AI technology. They will be punished in accordance to the progress that has been made in this technology,” Tevos announced. 

“And what if, say, that technology is designed to be used against my people? What will you do then? To what extent will you be able to act when my race is being slaughtered?” Shepard protested. 

“Those are hyperbolic accusations, Admiral. I seem to remember that your government refused to treat the terrorists as criminals,” Sparatus replied. 

“I was several systems away, assisting with reconstruction, in all of your colonies, I might add. I could not have been present to make such a decision, and while it was a flawed decision, one that I hope to correct, that isn’t something to go to war over, councillor,” she reasoned. 

“While that is a fair assessment, the choice has already been made, and it is not my decision to fix,” Sparatus said. 

“So whose decision is it? How can I avoid our people going to war when the solutions are already present?” Shepard asked. 

The councillor considered her for moment. Occasionally, his eyes would shift to Garrus, behind her, supporting. He scrutinized her with a careful glance. “Convince both your leaders and mine to hold a summit on a neutral world. No ships. No weapons. Just talk. You can do that, Admiral?” 

“Yes, sir. Thank you,” Shepard replied. 

“If you can avoid this war, then we will go about an appropriate punishment for the turian government and the scientists involved, Shepard,” Tevos added. 

“I must be off to coordinate this immediately. May I trust in your attendance once I have found an appropriate world to meet upon?” Shepard asked. 

“Absolutely, Shepard. Now go. We’re all counting on you,” Sparatus encouraged. 

Shepard walked back down the ungodly amount of stairs with Garrus by her side. 

“You didn’t chew them out,” he joked. 

“That was as close as I’m getting after that one time after rehab,” Shepard chuckled. She took his hand. 

“You’re the best peace-maker I know, Shepard. If anyone can do this, it’s you,” Garrus whispered. 

“Let’s just hope that the second summit I organize is as successful as the first,” she sighed.


End file.
